Commentary

Resurrection is important to Christian faith

By Chaplain (Col.) Ken Revell Fort Huachuca Garrison Chaplain

Saint Paul once wrote: “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).”

The resurrection of Christ is the mother of all doctrines concerning the Christian faith. If you disproved the resurrection, then the whole of Christendom would collapse like a deck of cards. The mystery of the empty tomb, the miracle of the transformed disciples, the mission of the mobilized church, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit, all point to the fundamental fact that Christ is alive and active in the world today. This truth gives credibility and validation to all other truths the Christian faith espouses, to include the virgin birth, the virtuous life, the vicarious death and the visible return of Christ. Only a living Messiah can inspire, lead, strengthen, encourage, answer prayer and bring people into certain victory.

This article shares three practical truths concerning the resurrection of Christ and what it means for those who choose to place their trust and confidence in Him.

First, the resurrection of Christ empowers the believer to have a personal relationship with the Lord.

A relationship with God is the center of spirituality. A dead Christ offers nothing more than a philosophical concept about God. Concepts may be ways to organize life, but they in themselves are not enough to get people through the dark night of the soul. He is the hope of life even when the bottom has fallen out.

Second, the resurrection of Christ inspires hope.

If Christ defeated hell, death and the grave, then certainly He can help us deal with the insurmountable problems we face on a daily basis. The resurrection of Christ helps us deal with our wildernesses, our Gethsemanes and our personal cavalries in life.

Third, the resurrection of Christ lends unflinching credibility to the trustworthiness of the Gospel (good news).

In other words, if Christ did not rise from the dead, then Christianity becomes a fraudulent religion rather than a saving faith.

In reality, a person only has three choices when it comes to the man, Jesus. Jesus was either a liar, a lunatic or He was indeed Lord. Christ was either a deceiver, deceived or a deliverer. The resurrection of Christ completely validates and legitimizes the claims of the Gospel.

In summary, it is the resurrection that gives us Easter. But this Easter is more than the Easter of History or the Easter of the Bible, but the Easter of the soul. For only the conqueror of death is able to give eternal life. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but shall have everlasting life (John 3:16).”

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